About Our Women’s Heart Health Services

The Women’s Heart Center is a multidisciplinary collaboration between Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Winchester Hospital funded by the Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Family Foundation. The Women’s Heart Center provides individualized and comprehensive care for women with heart disease or at risk for heart disease in the future. Dr. Lee Joseph is the Director of the Women’s Heart Center and holds the Telemachus and Irene Demoulas Chair for Women’s Health.

A woman’s heart is different than a man’s heart. Some conditions like micro-vascular angina, broken heart syndrome, spontaneous coronary artery dissection and postpartum cardiomyopathy occur mostly or only in women. This specialized center helps women of all ages reduce their chances of heart disease and its complications through a preventive and personalized, guideline-centered management approach, including state-of-the-art screening, testing and treatment. The Center is designed to prevent and manage the full spectrum of female cardiovascular conditions. The Center is dedicated to raising awareness about women’s heart health and using innovative scientific research to bridge the sex-based differences in cardiovascular diseases.

The Women’s Heart Center has a multidisciplinary team of providers encompassing multiple medical and surgical specialists, with expertise in preventive cardiology, coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, valve disease, vascular disease, cardio-oncology and pregnancy related cardiac conditions. The provider team also include nutritionists, behavioral health specialists, pharmacists and exercise physiologists. The Center provides convenient access to all of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Winchester Hospital’s diagnostic and treatment facilities for heart disease.

Meet the Women’s Heart Center Team

The Women’s Heart Center has a multidisciplinary team of providers encompassing multiple medical and surgical specialists, with expertise in preventive cardiology, coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmia, valve disease, vascular disease, cardio-oncology and pregnancy related cardiac conditions. The provider team also include nutritionists, behavioral health specialists, pharmacists and exercise physiologists. The Center provides convenient access to all of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Winchester Hospital’s diagnostic and treatment facilities for heart disease.

What We Treat

The Women’s Heart Center provides comprehensive care for women with the following conditions or cardiovascular risk factors:

  • Chest pain with normal coronary arteries / Coronary microvascular dysfunction / Microvascular angina / Cardiac syndrome X
  • Vasospastic angina
  • Spontaneous coronary artery dissection
  • Pregnancy and heart disease
  • Broken heart syndrome / Takotsubo cardiomyopathy / Stress induced cardiomyopathy
  • Diastolic heart failure / Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
  • Venous thromboembolism / Pulmonary embolism / Deep venous thrombosis
  • Fibromuscular dysplasia
  • Family history of heart disease
  • High cholesterol
  • High blood pressure
  • Risk biomarkers such as lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)]
  • Adverse pregnancy outcomes such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, small for gestational age, placental abruption, pregnancy loss, intrauterine growth retardation or preterm delivery
  • Rheumatologic disease
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
  • Premature menopause
  • Hormone therapy
  • History of cancer treatments

Services Offered at the Women’s Heart Center

The Center offers various programs to treat and help prevent female cardiovascular conditions:

Each new patient completes a risk assessment questionnaire and clinical assessment. When indicated, additional testing may be performed.

Risk factors that affect both sexes are considered as well as those specific to women such as premature menopause, hormone therapy and pregnancy-related conditions.

Women are enrolled within six months after delivery with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, small for gestational age, placental abruption, pregnancy loss, intrauterine growth retardation or preterm delivery for long term follow-up in collaboration with Winchester Hospital obstetricians and maternal-fetal medicine specialists.

The Center provides care for women with or at high risk for heart disease who have menopausal symptoms or are considering the use of hormonal contraceptives or treatments.

The Center can identify and treat women who may have heart disease or be at increased risk of heart disease due to treatment with radiation and chemotherapy.

The Center offers lifestyle modification programs aimed at reducing cardiovascular risk in women. Programs include an Exercise/Rehabilitation program, Nutritional Counselling, Behavioral Health Services and Smoking Cessation.

Contact Us

Women’s Heart Center, 41 Mall Road, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, 5th Floor East, Burlington, MA 01805

Call 781-744-9550 to schedule an appointment or refer a patient.

For BILH Providers
EPIC order: Ambulatory Referral to Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program [Order Type: Referral, Preference list: Amb Facility Referrals and Px Code: REF 191]